The PDC World Championship starts on Friday December 13, with live and exclusive coverage on Sky Sports Darts through to the final on Wednesday January 1
Friday 13 December 2019 14:14, UK
There is an added incentive for players to record perfect legs in the upcoming PDC World Championship, with the news that any player who hits two nine-dart finishes during the tournament will receive £100,000.
Remarkably, there have been 47 such flawless finishes on the PDC circuit in 2019, most recently Michael van Gerwen's effort against Adrian Lewis at the Players Championship Finals.
However, such frequency hasn't been reflected at the Ally Pally in recent years, with the last nine-darter coming in the 2016 semi-final, when Gary Anderson struck gold against Jelle Klaasen.
While seven players have previously hit nine-darters at the Ally Pally, nobody has recorded two at the same World Championship.
£100,000 prize is on offer should any player achieve that feat over the next three weeks.
"The standard of top-level darts has continued to soar this year and that's been evident in the record number of nine-darters across the circuit," said PDC Chairman Barry Hearn.
"The World Championship is the perfect stage for bringing the best out of players, and this £100,000 bonus for two nine-darters is another huge incentive for a player to make history at Ally Pally."
Phil Taylor is the only player who has previously achieved two impeccable legs in one televised event, with both coming in the 2010 Premier League final.
Three-time champ Michael van Gerwen came closest to achieving two at the same World Championship - remarkably in consecutive legs against James Wade in 2013. However, he missed D12 to achieve an unprecedented feat.
The move was discussed on the latest episode of The Darts Show Podcast, with former world No 1 Colin Lloyd questioning why a prize isn't on offer for one nine-darter:
Should two or more players break new ground by achieving two nine-dart finishes, the bonus would be shared on a pro rata basis.
All the action from Ally Pally gets underway on Friday with the first of 16 days of coverage live on Sky Sports Darts & Main Event from 7pm.
If you are out and about you can follow with regular updates, clips, features and reports at skysports.com/darts, our app for mobile devices and our Twitter account @SkySportsDarts
